Glassdoor Blog » updating your resumehttp://www.glassdoor.com/blog
Glassdoor - An Inside Look at Jobs and CompaniesThu, 30 Jul 2015 17:34:28 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.23 Tips For A Creative & Effective Resumehttp://www.glassdoor.com/blog/3-tips-creative-effective-resume/
http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/3-tips-creative-effective-resume/#commentsTue, 21 Aug 2012 14:00:01 +0000http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/?p=12245Your resume is a powerful tool for marketing and branding yourself, and there’s no reason you need to stick to a bland template if you don’t feel it’s an effective representation of who you are as a professional. But crafting a compelling creative resume is a fine line to walk—you don’t want to come across as desperate or overdo it. Keep these three tips in mind when utilizing a creative resume for your job search.

]]>There’s no doubt resumes can be boring—the standard black-text-on-white-paper format is nothing new to most employers or job seekers. Many professionals want to stand out from the crowd of job applicants, but they feel forced into the standard resume templates that don’t adequately display their personalities or eye for creativity.

Your resume is a powerful tool for marketing and branding yourself, and there’s no reason you need to stick to a bland template if you don’t feel it’s an effective representation of who you are as a professional. But crafting a compelling creative resume is a fine line to walk—you don’t want to come across as desperate or overdo it. Keep these three tips in mind when utilizing a creative resume for your job search:

1. Ensure It Stays Relevant.

If you’re not applying for jobs in design or other creative fields, try to avoid going too over-the-top. Remember, employers are mainly interested in your skills and experience, so remember to keep it readable and focused on what makes you employable. Though you don’t have to rule out colors altogether, colored text is often a bad idea, as it can be difficult to read. Your creative resume should be tasteful and clean, not distracting.

2. Decide How Far You Want To Go.

There are a number of creative ways you can customize your resume—take a look at these 30 examples from Applicant to get the gears turning. If you want to stay understated, consider adding a creative border, or printing your resume on high-quality or colored paper. Stick to adding just a few graphics to keep things readable, or center your entire resume around one compelling image. Design the resume yourself with programs like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, or have a more skilled friend help you out—just make sure to disclose this to your potential employer should they ask about your design capabilities.

3. Consider Creative Options Online.

If you’re reluctant to change the look and feel of your paper resume, offer hiring managers links to online content where you can really show your stripes. Create an online portfolio of your work with free options like Google sites, where you can add text, edit your background and layout, and upload corresponding documents like design work, writing samples, and links to other projects. Or consider creating a video resume—sites like Spark Hire help you to create one in minutes. Here’s a good example from a PR practitioner.

Remember, you don’t have to limit yourself to paper. Creative resumes are a great way to distinguish yourself from the swelling crowd of qualified job applicants. Don’t be afraid to showcase your personality to employers—as long as you keep your document clean and readable, most employers will like to see your ability to think outside of the box. But—and this is important—don’t forget that many of the more creative options like infographic and video resumes are supplements to, not replacements of, a traditional resume.

]]>http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/3-tips-creative-effective-resume/feed/25 Resume Secrets Revealedhttp://www.glassdoor.com/blog/5-resume-secrets-revealed/
http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/5-resume-secrets-revealed/#commentsFri, 20 Jul 2012 14:00:12 +0000http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/?p=11946If you seek out advice for writing the perfect resume, be warned: the blogosphere can be quite noisy. There are as many opinions on this subject as there are stars in the sky. Some opinions come from those with a long-term careers-industry relationship, and some from those with little or no experience, but who feel dutiful in offering an opinion on everything. So, what to do? Consider these five resume secrets revealed to help you create a resume that tells your story.

]]>If you seek out advice for writing the perfect resume, be warned: the blogosphere can be quite noisy. There are as many opinions on this subject as there are stars in the sky. Some opinions come from those with a long-term careers-industry relationship, and some from those with little or no experience, but who feel dutiful in offering an opinion on everything.

This can make your quest quite difficult.

What’s a job seeker to do with this flurry of information—and misinformation—being thrown about? To WHOM should you be listening??

The short answer is: YOURSELF!

You shouldn’t be stunned by that answer. After all, who knows more about your career history and future goals than you do? These subjects are as unique as your own fingerprints, and the document you use to herald them should be every bit as personal.

Below, you will find a few of the resume writing topics that seem to create the most conflict. Following each topic are methods on deciding what suits you best.

1) Resume Length. The proper length of your resume has been a sorely contested subject for years: one page, two pages, three pages, etc.? The fact is, the resume should be as long or as short as you feel is necessary to tell your unique story. An interesting story is interesting regardless of its length. You would be hard-pressed to find a hiring manager who makes their decision based on the length of your resume. Common sense dictates that they will hire the person most qualified for the job. If you can prove your value on one page, that’s fine. If it takes three pages of compelling content to make your point, that’s also fine. If you keep the reader interested, they will read the entire document.

2) Who Should Tell Your Story? The decision to hire a professional writer or write the resume yourself depends on your own personal comfort level in telling your story. Some highly educated individuals, though, brilliant producers in their chosen field, possess only a cursory knowledge of how to use the written word to their advantage. Others may have a natural ability to communicate using this medium. Each individual should be honest with himself about the proficiency they possess and make a decision based on this alone.

3) How Much Work History Should Your Resume Include? If you want to start a riot, simply suggest your desire to go back more than ten years in your job history. Many evil eyes have been exchanged on this subject. You need to decide if information from 10 or 20 or 30 years ago is important to the position you are currently seeking. If it is, include it. If not, don’t. It really is just that simple.

4) Resume Design. The layout of your resume is another source of contention that really needn’t be. Your decision to use or not to use color, charts, graphs or any number of other design elements should never be held to someone else’s hard-and-fast rules on the subject. Determine your rules by answering the following: a) Do these design elements add to or take away from the story? B) Will your audience be compelled or repelled by their use?

5) Paragraphs or Bullets? The “paragraph versus bullet point” controversy continues to wreak havoc on the careers industry. The “bullet point” faction holds up scannability as its war cry; while the “paragraph” crowd insists this is the only way to victory because of its storytelling feel. In the end, you must decide which of these formats does the best job of relaying your talents in a way that resonates with the reader. Often, a combination of the two strategies works well.

Many well-intentioned resume advisors reside on- and offline. Ultimately, this is your story to tell and your audience to compel. Read and listen to the advice being offered. Use what works for you, and leave the rest in the blogosphere for those who come behind you.

]]>http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/5-resume-secrets-revealed/feed/2Getting Your Resume Noticed: “Say This, Not That”http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-noticed/
http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-noticed/#commentsThu, 22 Mar 2012 16:23:06 +0000http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/?p=10920Are you telling prospective employers what you think they want to hear? Or, are you giving them the facts?
As human beings, and especially human beings trying to land a job, we all tend to err on the side of saying what we believe will give us the best chance for success. (Watch any election debate if you don't believe me.)
While I would never suggest lying on your resume, here is a little game called, "Say This, Not That," to help you get a leg-up while keeping the facts of your career history intact.

]]>Are you telling prospective employers what you think they want to hear? Or, are you giving them the facts?

As human beings, and especially human beings trying to land a job, we all tend to err on the side of saying what we believe will give us the best chance for success. (Watch any election debate if you don’t believe me.)

While I would never suggest lying on your resume, here is a little game called, “Say This, Not That,” to help you get a leg-up while keeping the facts of your career history intact.

Say This: Accomplished relocations slated to cost $12M and 6 months of effort within 3 months with $900K in expenses.

Not That: Accomplished relocations slated to cost twelve million dollars and six months of effort with nine hundred thousand dollars in expenses.

Looking at the two sentences above, it’s easy to see how using numbers instead of spelling them out adds impact to the accomplishment instead of having it hidden in the text.

Say This: Added $100K to the bottom line by developing relationships with new accounts through a consultative sales approach and resuscitating dead accounts.

Not That: Responsible for developing relationships with new accounts using a consultative sales plan and bringing dead accounts back to life.

Phrases such as “responsible for” are considered redundant at best and elementary at worst. The reader isn’t as concerned about what you were “responsible for” as they are about the actions you took and the accomplishments those actions produced.

While the second sentence may very well be true, it lacks polish and specifics. And the fact that people in the business may know you doesn’t necessarily make them a “key” contact.

So, there you have it. Just a smattering of things to be aware of when developing a career resume document or social media profile that will most likely be your first chance to make an impression on the company in which you want to secure a position. If not executed properly, it could be the last chance you have to make an impression, as well.

While these examples may not fit your specific goals or industry, they do provide you with the fodder that could mean the difference in making it to the short-list or being tossed back into the job search sea.

]]>http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-noticed/feed/127Resume Achievements: Are Yours Too Long, Too Short Or Just Right?http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-achievements-long-short/
http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-achievements-long-short/#commentsThu, 20 Oct 2011 14:00:54 +0000http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/?p=9137On your resume, what is the limit on how much to write about an achievement? The answer is, 'It depends.' I suggest your goal is to culminate in Expanded Achievements Stories; so, don't initially overwhelm yourself with rules of achievement length. Instead, focus on the aerial perspective of what you contributed, and then break the bigger picture down into smaller chunks. A quick checklist will help walk you through the process of achievement 'ferreting.'

]]>On your resume, what is the limit on how much to write about an achievement?

The answer is, ‘It depends.’

I suggest your goal is to culminate in Expanded Achievements Stories; so, don’t initially overwhelm yourself with rules of achievement length. Instead, focus on the aerial perspective of what you contributed, and then break the bigger picture down into smaller chunks.

A quick checklist will help walk you through the process of achievement ‘ferreting':

What has been your overarching impact at your current position? This is your starting point in teasing out your achievements.

Start with the bird’s-eye view of what has improved at your company since you came on board; e.g., profits multiplied; customer service skyrocketed; your company’s marketplace exploded.

Write a 1-4 sentence overview of your impact at your current company, and then drill down into the mini stories from there. My preference is no more than 2-4 lines for each bullet, so as to ease absorption by the reader (big blocks of text can overwhelm).

Here is an example of an Expanded Achievements Story that is introduced with the Overarching Impact.

If you’d done your career introspection ‘homework,’ you also will have taken a few minutes to jot down job requirements that will help you to target your achievements based on your audience’s needs. This culling of your audience’s needs will intuitively help you trim, edit, tweak and maintain control of the content quantity (and even more importantly, ‘quality’) that lands on your resume pages.

For example, does your target reader need someone experienced at expanding existing products into the marketplace? Great. Show that you have done that and how you did it, as in the above example.

Do they want someone keen on fixing customer service issues? Bingo – the above example proves you’ve been there/done that.

Moreover, if they are looking for someone who knows how to squeeze savings from existing vendors and / or other resources, thus bolstering profits, then this sample shows proof of success.

However, whatever aspects of your story do ‘not’ resonate with your target reader should be left to the cutting room floor.

So, if they ask you about expanding your company’s product presence into the market, and you focus only on how you led the latest technology improvements or software implementations, then you’ve missed your mark.

Of course, if you can succinctly and compellingly tie the technology improvements into the method of expanding products into the market, then you may be okay.

If you do not connect the dots for the reader and prove, beyond a shadow of the resume doubt, that what you have done resonates with their specific needs, then you have bragged about the ‘wrong’ achievements. The bottom line of the resume is that it’s less about what ‘you’ are most proud of and more about ‘why’ they should care.

Moreover, it is about the context of the situation as well as the shades of gray, personality and skills (leadership traits, problem solving talent, collaboration, innovation), that you possess that must also be knit into the fine threads of your resume.

Finally, if the focused, meaty content and story of how you solve problems that clearly resemble the target company’s / hiring decision maker’s / corporate board’s needs, then it’s less about achievements length, and more about capturing their attention so they’ll care to digest your story; and ultimately, they will call you in for that interview.

]]>http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/resume-achievements-long-short/feed/73Anatomy Of A Memorable Resumehttp://www.glassdoor.com/blog/anatomy-memorable-resume/
http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/anatomy-memorable-resume/#commentsTue, 23 Aug 2011 18:59:46 +0000http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/?p=8331Getting the right résumé formula isn't as hard as it looks. Here's a top-to-bottom list to help you craft the perfect résumé.

]]>A memorable résumé is crucial in helping you get your foot in the door.

“The structure and strategy behind a résumé are often the keys to engaging employers,” says Laura Smith-Proulx, executive director of résumé writing service An Expert Résumé.

Getting the right résumé formula isn’t as hard as it looks. Here’s a top-to-bottom list to help you craft the perfect résumé:

Clear Format

There are many different formats available online. Choose a format that looks professional and use an 11 or 12-point font so no one has to squint. Colors done in a tasteful manner can also help job seekers stand out, says Mary Elizabeth Bradford, author of the “21st Century Résumé Guide for the Perplexed.” “I prefer two colors to add character to a résumé but one must use discernment and not overdo it,” she explains.

Résumé Title

If you’re worried about starting with a boring summary of your achievements, use the top of your résumé to convey a quick title like “Business Development and Sales Director” or “Vice President, IT,” Smith-Proulx suggests. “Résumés without titles often appear ‘headless’ and confuse the reader as to your ultimate goal,” she says.

Quick Tagline and Profile

After the title, add a one-sentence tagline to further promote your skills and “give a quick snapshot of brand value,” Smith-Proulx says. Then add a profile of your qualifications in one or two sentences. Tailor your résumé with keywords from the job description to help your résumé get past the electronic filtering systems.

Reverse Chronological Job History

Most hiring managers want to see this type of résumé, even if there are holes in your job history. “Even if there are gaps in your career, it’s critical to show employers your work chronology, as many will rule out candidates that appear to be hiding something about their past,” Smith-Proulx says. Address any gaps with a single line explanation, she adds. With limited space, use the bullet points of each role to highlight specific achievements. If your résumé goes back more than 15 years, then simply state the company name and position without providing details.

Education

Recruiters don’t need to know where you went to high school, but it’s important to include any certifications or college degrees that are applicable to your career. Most of the time, graduation years are also necessary. No matter what degree you earned, don’t be afraid to point it out, Smith-Proulx says. “Even seemingly unrelated degrees can be valuable to employers, as in the case of sales reps who have a degree in psychology,” she says.

Extracurricular Activities

Even though it doesn’t speak directly to your professional background, including any hobbies or volunteering positions can actually help you stand out from the other applicants. Several points that allude to your personality will help hiring managers gauge whether you’d be a fit for the company’s culture or provide a glimpse of your life outside of work. But be careful about disclosing too much about your religious or political views. “You’ll want to avoid mentioning affiliations that disclose your religious activities, as this can turn off hiring managers who don’t share your preference,” Smith-Proulx adds.

As you work to include the various components, it’s important to tailor certain areas of your résumé. Consider your résumé from an employer’s perspective — decide which skills and accomplishments are best to highlight.

“Leave out info that does not apply to your next job,” Bradford says. “Get laser focused on an ideal job and write the résumé to that industry and position.”